A £55m extension is set to be created at the Trafford Centre which will see a huge roof installed over Barton Square.

The development will create an extra 112,000 square feet of retail space at the shopping centre, according to owner intu’s annual results and report for 2016.

Planning permission was first secured in 2011 for the project, which will see the courtyard covered by a central glazed dome roof to create an enclosed shopping space in sync with the rest of the centre.

Other possibilities could include a walkway on the first floor as bosses plan to beef up the homewares extension of the mammoth shopping centre.

The roof development will provide shelter from Manchester’s ‘prevailing weather conditions’ according to plans submitted at the time. It could also create extra retail space as intu reconsider how some of the units are laid out.

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Work could finally begin on the development this year according to the latest report, which indicates a timescale of 2017 to 2019.

Built at a cost of £90m, Barton Square opened in 2008 as an annex to house furniture and homeware stores at the shopping centre. Anchor tenants at Barton Square include M&S Home, Next HOME and HomeSense.

It currently has a number of empty units, however, including those vacated by BHS, Dwell and Cadwaladers, and intu are understood to be weighing up a change in the retail mix there. Barton Square is also home to experiential family attractions Legoland and Sea Life and houses a fairground ride as well as the Santa’s Grotto at Christmas.

The M.E.N. has contacted intu but the company declined to release any further information at this stage.